Bad Start to a Good Day
by Santana2
Summary: It's Artemis's first day at a new school and so far, it's not going well . . . Bonding fic, T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: This one-shot is in honor of Spring Break, baby!

Which is weird because it's about school. Huh, irony. Anyway, this was floating around in my head for a while and I got bored so here we are. I can't actually take credit for the story line, but I can't tell you where I got it either. It was from some vaguely remembered movie a teacher showed my class once, can't remember the title or anything, this scene just stuck with me for some reason.

**Disclaimer**: Well, when you can't even take credit for the story-line . . .

* * *

It was her first day, and she'd gotten there on time.

But that was _all_ that had gone right so far.

Artemis had never really considered her luck _good_, but this was ridiculous. First off, getting there on time had been a miracle in and of itself, considering no matter how carefully she'd set her alarm clock the night before, the crappy old thing didn't even go off, thus, her waking up late.

Waking up late had make her rush through the rest of her routine, spilling orange juice on her new school uniform, tripping on the stairs and scraping her knee, while trying to make it to the bus on time, and finally realizing as she climbed on the bus that she had grabbed her backpack but her new books weren't in it. She sat down anyway, hoping she wouldn't need them yet or could look on with someone else. That is if any of the kids in her new snooty rich-kid school would give her the time of day.

So, she was already in a bad mood when she walked into the main office to get her class schedule and met what would turn out to be the brightest part of her day.

"Artemis Crock?"

She had just walked out of the office, class schedule in hand, when she turned to the new voice. She saw a boy, about a head shorter than her, jet black hair, blue eyes, and who really didn't look like he was old enough to be in High School. He was looking at her kind of funny.

"Um, yeah?" She responded. _Oh, no,_ she thought to herself, _don't be the perky-over-achieving welcoming committee._

The boy seemed to read her expression and smirked lazily, "Calm down. I'm not gonna throw confetti at you or anything. I'm Richard Grayson; I'm supposed to show you around." The name, and the boy's face, seemed vaguely familiar to her but she couldn't place it at the moment and decided not to try. She might be able to look up most of the students here, no problem.

He held out his hand for her to shake, which she found way too formal for a High School student. She took it anyway and said, "Oh, uh, that's cool, I guess. Thanks, then."

She was not usually this nervous. Stupid rich people's school.

Richard seemed amused at her stumbling, but graciously said nothing. Instead, he pointed to her class schedule, "May I?"

"Sure," she handed it to him, watching as he studied it. Then she remembered where they were, "Um, aren't we supposed to be in first period by now?"

He didn't look up from the paper but replied, "First period's homeroom, you have Mrs. Eller, same as me and she's giving us this period to let you get settled. Well, as settled as you can get in half an hour."

"So, I could have slept in this morning?" She said, only half-joking. Turned out the mad-dash to the bus wasn't entirely necessary.

Richard laughed and started walking down the hall, saying, "You have Calculus and gym with me, and free period," he stopped in crossway where three hallways and a staircase connected, "If you want to, you can meet me back here after your English class, which is upstairs," he flicked the paper towards the stairway and then handed it back to Artemis, "right next to the library."

"Think I might take you up on that," she said gratefully, this school was pretty big, four separate buildings. She followed him again as he walked a little way down the hall, "Where now . . ."

"Your locker," the boy stated and tapped on her designated, beige, uniform locker, one of many that lined the halls. They were a lot nicer and less dented than the ones at her old school.

Everything here was. No graffiti on the walls, the few teachers she'd seen walk by were dressed more professionally, the trophy case had just as many academic achievements as sports displayed (and didn't look like it had been looted too recently). In fact, she thought she saw Richard's picture in there, although she didn't see what for.

She sighed and looked at the lock and then at the combination the lady in the office had given her. She reached up, dialed the numbers in the correct combo and pulled. Nothing happened. She frowned and was about to try again, when Richard, who had been leaning on the locker beside hers, stopped her hand.

He held up a finger and she stepped back as he banged the locker twice on the very front near the lock with the side of his fist and they both watched it swing open.

"At least they look nice," he said quietly. Artemis smiled for the first time that day.

The rest of the half-hour they spent touring the school. He showed her the cafeteria ("Don't get excited, the food's still bad"), the gym (stocked with more workout equipment than possibly Mt. Justice), and as a bonus he told her all the best places to sit in her classes and what to expect from the teachers ("Sit in the back for Mr. Pullium he spits when he talks, and don't be afraid to raise your hand with Miss Brown, she gives points for discussion").

Finally, he walked her to her English class and said, "This is your stop."

"Thanks Richard," Artemis said.

"If you promise not to make a perverted joke about it, you can call me Dick," Dick said and turned to walk away, but stopped and looked at her, smirking, "And I'll let you borrow my notes."

"What do you . . ." but he disappeared in the crowd as the bell rang. Artemis looked at the door to her first class and sighed, "I'm in trouble."

* * *

Miss Brown, an older teacher who looked like she was probably living proof that dinosaurs once existed, eyed her critically, but not entirely unkindly, when Artemis walked up to her desk after class.

Artemis decided to start, "I was told to get some notes from you?" And when had she started forming statements as question? _Get a grip woman._ She actually thought she might like this class and Miss Brown, she didn't know why she was nervous still. Maybe it was because she kept catching the other kids glancing at her during class. She could practically here there thoughts (_Charity case. Probably a delinquent. Did you hear where she came from?_) and there was this one girl who didn't even have the decency to look away when Artemis caught her staring.

"Ah, yes," Miss Brown said, and started rummaging behind her desk, "Since it's the middle of the semester you've missed quite a bit. Here it is," she picked up and handed to Artemis what looked like a stack of encyclopedias shoved into a three-ring binder, "Now, you'll want to borrow a classmate's notes, they'd be much more detailed."

"_More _detailed?" Artemis asked. She could work-out with this much weight.

"Yes and your first paper is due in a weak. I apologize but you are a little behind, since you transferred late," Miss Brown paused when she looked up and saw Artemis staring wide-eyed at the binder in her hands, then she said brusquely, but still kindly, "Calm down, Miss Crock, we've done as much with less."

Artemis could only nod numbly and walk out to where she would meet Dick.

* * *

Free period was a God-send. And so was Richard. At least he let her complain without interrupting.

"– And don't even get me started on that Calc teacher! I could've rung his scrawny neck," Artemis ranted. She couldn't help it. Richard had asked how her first day had been so far, and (even though she figured he felt obligated to ask) it all just spilled out.

She finally stopped to take a breath and watch Richard sitting beside her on the wall outside the back of the school. Dick called it "the square"; she called it the palace grounds. There were a bunch of other kids around. She would have found it rather pretty, with its trimmed green grass and manicured gardens, if she wasn't in such a flustered state.

Dick only smiled apologetically at her and said, "Yeah, he hates everybody."

She sighed and decided to focus on something else for a while, and looked around, "Look Dick," she said after a second, "Thanks for everything and all, but you don't have to babysit me. You must want to go sit with some friends or something."

Dick shrugged and looked across the yard, "I don't mind. Besides, none of my friends go to this school." He didn't really sound depressed by that, though. Artemis knew she was bummed about leaving her friends at her old school.

"No one, really?" She asked, not meaning to sound rude, but there it was, "You must have some friends . . ." She waited but Dick only shrugged again.

"I'm in a couple of clubs and stuff," he said, "But the truth is I'm younger than most everyone else here. It's not very cool to be seen with me," He grinned at her and stood as the bell rang, bag over his shoulder, "Which means you might be in trouble."

* * *

"Pricilla's staring at you," Dick said, sitting on the bleacher beside her.

It was gym and they were playing volleyball, the whole class separated into four teams that would alternate out over the period. At least this was one thing Artemis could do without a hitch.

She had walked over to stand by Dick after dressing in without even thinking at the beginning of class. This seemed to surprise the little guy, especially when she smiled and greeted him in front of people. She didn't acknowledge it, but she did get a few weird looks.

Artemis looked behind her, where dick had just glanced, and she huffed, "That's the same girl from English. What's her problem?" Artemis watched the brunette green eyed girl. And just like back in class, she didn't immediately look away, but gave Artemis a raised eyebrow as if to say, _I'm superior, deary, now what are you doing in my realm?_ Artemis looked away and back at Dick.

"She's a cheerleader," Dick said simply, "And you're a threat."

Artemis was a little taken aback by this, "A threat?" And Dick grinned at her again, as if getting a joke that she wasn't.

"You're the new shiny toy," he giggled.

"You know I can kick your scrawny butt, right?" Artemis deadpanned.

Dick only laughed harder, and she felt like she was missing something even more. _Whatever._

Just then, Pricilla's team was swapped out to play the winner of the last round and Artemis caught a whiff of her _very_ strong perfume as she walked past them, watching as a blonde girl giggled something in the brunette's ear.

Pricilla responded with a fake-whispered, "I think it's _sweet_ that the charity cases found each other . . ." and Artemis knew Dick hadn't missed the remark either.

He shrugged at her and said simply, "Told you you'd be in trouble, I get that a lot," and then he changed the subject. She didn't ask Richard what they meant by "charity case" in referring to him, she wasn't one to pry and he obviously didn't want her to, but she sat there and fumed about it until their team was up.

Artemis was happy when her team got to play Pricilla's. She made sure to nail the little brat right in the head and make it look like an accident. Dick didn't quit laughing until the end of class.

* * *

When the last bell rang Artemis ran outside the front of the school, not even caring who saw, held her arms out to the afternoon sun, and practically shouted, "Hello, blessed sanity! I have missed you!"

She heard some very familiar cackling behind her and turned to see Richard, walking down the stairs towards her, "It wasn't _that_ bad was it?"

The blonde sighed and readjusted her now extremely heavy backpack on her shoulders, "Not as bad as it could've been I suppose," she said truthfully. If she didn't think it would've been weird she might have hugged the slight boy in front of her. She figured she was stressed, though, and opted for ruffling his hair before saying goodbye, "I'll see you around then?"

He giggled again, and for the umpteenth time that day she felt like she was missing a joke, "Yeah, Artemis, see you around," and he walked (not to her surprised) over to a shiny town car, still grinning, as she walked to her bus stop.

When she got home, her mom asked her how her day had gone.

Artemis hesitated before answering. _Swell, mom. The cheerleader's already hate me and I'll probably flunk out in the first semester, but guess what? I made a new friend!_ Okay, so it wasn't that bad but, that about summed it up.

Instead she said, "I need a new alarm clock."

**

* * *

**

A/N: Not sure how happy I am with this, but I've always been curious about being the new kid at school, since I went to the same one my whole high school career. And before you say anything, I know all cheerleaders are not like that, I just couldn't help the little cliché moment.

Plus, I've been craving a little Robin/Artemis (whether Artie knows it or not) bonding, though I'm not sure why.

Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: Okay, I'm writing this because a bunch of reviewers asked for another chapter, and I am nothing if not a people pleaser (ha, not really, ya'll were just persistent). I may end up just leaving this open ended like I did Cave-ins and Concussions, because I kept getting ideas for that one, but it also wasn't a full story just related one-shots.

**Disclaimer**: I'm running out of witty things to say here . . . and yet, I still don't own anything . . . nor do I approve of skipping class . . . except on those special occassions :)

* * *

She found him sitting under the bleachers in the gym. Normally, that was where kids went to make-out or do any other elicit activity, but right now it was school hours. Surprisingly, this meant they were empty, except for one dark haired boy, sitting with his knees to his chest, arms wrapped around them.

Artemis ducked under the bleachers, walked half-crouched the short way to where Dick was sitting, "Is this seat taken?" she asked cheerfully.

He only glanced at her and shrugged.

She sat and continued talking, she wasn't really sure what else to do, "You know, back at my old school, this spot would be _crowded_ you know what I'm sayin? We had to stop having pep rallies in the gym cause, a bunch of the kids would get up under here and . . . well, you know, even during _school hours_, but not here. I guess it must be a rich people thing –"

"What do you want?" Richard interrupted blandly. He still didn't look at her, just stared ahead at the back of the stands. He looked like he was trying very hard not to hit something.

_Okay_, Artemis thought,_ Not good at this. Great._

There was a long pause where Artemis tried to think of something to say.

"That was a really rotten thing for them to do, Richard," she finally said quietly.

She looked over at him and he sighed, "It's not the _worst_ thing that's ever happened to me," she was surprised when he chuckled a little, "I mean, _really, _it's _not_ the worst thing that's ever happened to me," he laughed again and Artemis got the feeling she was missing something, a feeling she got often around Richard.

His blue eyes found her's and she realized she'd been staring sadly at him. She looked away.

"Where did they even get all of those posters anyway?" Dick whispered suddenly, more to himself than to her, Artemis thought, "They're ancient."

Artemis couldn't find an answer, so she just sat there quietly and looked out from under the bleachers, just to make sure a teacher wasn't about to stumble upon them. Lo and behold, stapled to a bulletin board outside the coach's office was one of the offending flyers her friend had just mentioned. There were hundreds of them littering the school, taped to lockers, stuffed in the middle of each and every school newspaper. She thought if she looked there would be a picture on the school website.

It was circus poster, dated a few years back. It had a large, bright tent in the background and boisterously proclaimed _Haley's Circus_ and just underneath that_ featuring The Flying Graysons_. Pricilla and her _pack,_ as Artemis liked to call them, had put them up in retaliation.

Artemis had already looked up Richard three weeks ago after he'd showed her around the school, and just as she suspected, she already knew the name, if in passing. Bruce Wayne's ward, orphaned circus performer. She never mentioned it to Richard although she was sure he knew she'd find out eventually.

The civilian clothed archer leaned back and looked at her friend, "I'm sorry Richard," she said quietly.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, "What'd you do?"

She grimaced a little and said, "You remember when I smacked her in the head with a volleyball my first day here after that . . . comment she made?"

"Pricilla did _this, _because of that? Man, she's a lot more sensitive than I thought," Richard said indignantly.

"Oh, it wasn't just that," Artemis said slowly, looking at Dick out of the corner of her eye.

"Artemis, what'd you do . . . ?" Dick asked her again uncertainly, watching her.

"Well, see after that little incident, you know after she got done squalling and her friends quit screaming about a concussion? She caught me in the girl's dressing room and told me she knew I did it on purpose, and I quote 'that I should really watch my back'," she paused, shifting a little.

But Dick had been around her long enough to know about her temperament issues, "Oh, no . . ."

"And, well, I may have decided to take her down a couple notches and . . . you remember last week, when she and that blonde chick didn't come to school for a couple days?" Artemis chanced another glance at him.

He was staring at her wide-eyed, "Yeah."

"That was probably because of the purple hair dye I put in their shampoos they use after cheerleading practice," Artemis barely got finished speaking when she jumped at the sound of boyish laughter. She turned to look at Richard beside her, currently having trouble breathing and sitting up straight from laughing.

"Th-that is brilliant!" he finally gasped and she shushed him, trying to avoid authority figures, but smiled and giggled a little herself just the same, "But I don't get it," he continued, sobering slightly, "What's that got to do with me?"

Artemis rolled her eyes, "Because we're friends, genius. She knows that and so she put up those posters to upset you and tick me off. And the brilliance in it is that, just like she could never prove that it was me in the shampoo thing, I can never prove that it was her who put up the posters," she glared again at the poster just outside their hideout. This Pricilla was a devious one . . .

When she turned back to Richard, she opened her mouth to apologize again but he spoke first, "Friends?" he tilted his head like he did in Calculus, when the teacher gave them a hard problem.

Artemis rolled her eyes again, at this rate they'd roll right out of the sockets, "Yeah, friends. What is that a new concept for you or something?"

Dick sputtered a little and said, "No . . . I mean . . . here at school . . . it's different," he finished lamely and again Artemis felt like they talking about two different things.

Then she remembered what he said the day they met, about how he was younger and how people treated him differently. Now she realized that his being an ex-circus performer didn't help his popularity any, although, she didn't know why. Artemis thought it was kind of cool.

She sighed again, "This conversation is extremely depressing," the blonde said suddenly.

Richard _hmm_ed and said, "We should probably get back to class now," he didn't sound very excited about it. Having to walk down a hallway infested with the memory of the worst moment in your life didn't help.

Artemis only shook her head in disappointment as they climbed out from under the bleachers, "Grayson," she threw her arm over his shoulders and steered him to the back entrance of the school, "I really have to teach you the finer point of the educational system. Such as, playing hooky, on a really crappy day. Come, my young student."

Richard laughed, "My dad would kill me, _and_ you . . ."

"And we shall cross that bridge when we get to it," Artemis said dramatically and threw open the back door of the school, "But now, I decree we will have ice cream, and plan revenge on the evil cheerleaders that plague our fair school!"

"You're insane," Dick said but laughed and followed her out.

Artemis looked back at the posters lining the halls.

_Oh yeah,_ she thought, _Pricilla had better watch her back._

**

* * *

**

A/N

Hm, now I feel like I have to write another chapter and do something evil to Pricilla. I am so not good at evil; it took me forever to think of a mean prank.

Btw, this was written after I had blood drawn and I'm a complete, needle-phobic wreck, so if it sounds a little off, that could very well be why. Just let me know and I may find time to fix it.

You know. Maybe.

Thanx for reading and please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Okay, I just wanted to clarify a few things before you start reading, so bear with me, please. Some reviewers wanted to know if this was going to turn into Artemis figuring out Robin's identity and my answer is no, sorry; my reason being, Artemis obviously has her own secrets, even if she suspected something, I can't see her digging into someone else's, especially a friend. If ever the inspiration strikes me to write a "reveal Robin's i.d." story, it will more than likely be Wally to do the deed (even though I think he may already know, but let's have fun with it, shall we?).

Also, this is not an Artemis/Robin romance. Just, just no. I support the cannon Waltemis or Artally or whatever we're calling it (I'm a sucker for the love/hate relationships). This is purely a friendship deal and I hope you enjoy it anyway.

**Disclaimer**: How about I assume you know the drill and get on with my life (not that it's much of one, but still). On that note, allow me to end this ridiculously long A/N and on with the story! (Hey, look the rest of YJ finally showed up in this fic. Go figure.)

* * *

Artemis was about to do something she never thought she could sink to. At least not outside of battle or plummeting to her doom or some other truly horrible occurrence she could think of. Point is she was really going to have to swallow her pride on this one.

She had to ask Kid Flash for help.

Well, he wouldn't actually _know_ she was asking for it, but the thought of him ever finding out made her want to do the plummet-to-her-death thing.

Normally, she would have found _anyone_ else to help her, but this problem required heavy artillery in the category of obnoxious. She needed an expert on pranks, since she was running low on ideas, and she needed a good one. No, not a good one; a great one. Thus, her first thought being Wally.

She arrived at the mountain for combat practice with Black Canary early, so she'd have time to find KF and somehow work her question in between insults.

The object of her thoughts arrived five minutes after she did, alongside Robin par usual. They both looked at her a little weird as they walked past, and Artemis realized she was grinning like a crazy person. She composed herself quickly and wandered over to stand by Megan, the person she knew Wally would eventually gravitate to. She supposed it didn't really matter if others overheard the conversation.

Artemis and the only other girl on the team talked for a little while, watching Kaldur and Superboy spar. The archer was just starting to think that Wally had better hurry up before Black Canary got there, when said boy's predictable arrival came.

"Hey, beautiful," The speedster greeted Megan first, obviously trying to ignore the archer's presence. Robin was no longer at his side, having opted to get in a good stretch before the work-out.

"Hello Wally," M'gann replied sweetly, polite as ever.

"What, I don't even get a 'hi'?" Artemis asked in her best sarcastically hurt voice. Usually, she wouldn't have cared whether KF said hello or not, she just needed an excuse to get him talking to her.

"No, you don't, Blondie," Wally responded, immediately irritated (sometimes Artemis loved how easily she could get under his skin), "You have not earned the right to my 'hi's. They're a privilege, you know?" He smirked when she rolled her eyes behind her mask.

Then Artemis saw her opening, "Watch it, twinkle toes. You might end up with a closet full of hot pink uniforms, only slightly more embarrassing than that shade you now sport," she said gesturing to his bright yellow and red uniform.

Thankfully, he took the bait on the first try, "_Pfft_, right, like you could ever pull one over on me. I'll have you know, I have "prankage," if you will, down to an art form," he seemed to hold his chin a little higher as he said this, and crossed his arms proudly over his chest. Looked like Robin wasn't the only one with vocabulary issues.

The archer had to remind herself not to look too triumphant, "All right, Mr. _Prankage_, let's hear it. What's the best prank you ever pulled? Not that I imagine there's much to tell," she said. Just then she realized Megan had walked away to stretch with Robin. The others always seemed to leave the two of them alone if even the hint of an argument was in the air. Oh well, M'gann probably didn't fully understand what they were talking about anyway.

And apparently the best way to get Wally talking was to basically ask him to brag on himself. He started running off a list so fast that Artemis was starting to have a hard time understanding, darn super speed, "Oh, dude, okay, there was this one I played on my mom, I put a bunch of flour in her hair-dryer so when she turned it on, well, she basically had to take another shower. Oh, and another time I put vanilla pudding in a friend's motorcycle helmet."

He paused as Robin walked by and said, "That was _me_ you jerk," and started mumbling curses about April Fools.

Wally continued as if nothing happened, "I put superglue on my Uncle Barry's remote. Aw, what else? Oh! Honey in my girlfriend's hair brush – yeah, we didn't date long after that – Icy Hot on the toilet seats, saran wrap the car, . . ." and the list went on. And on, and on, and on.

Artemis was extremely glad when Black Canary walked in and Wally ended his lecture. Who knew you could do that many things with a plastic fork? On the bright side, she had what she came for.

Plus, she had a strange, unnerving new respect for Kid Flash.

* * *

For once in her life, Artemis was actually excited to get to school. She had everything planned out; all she had to do now was tell Dick.

She practically ran to his locker right after homeroom.

When she got there, she was grinning and grabbed a startled Richard, saying, "Dick you won't believe what –"

She was cut off by a voice calling, "Hey, Dick, wait up!"

They both turned, Dick, yet again looking rather bewildered at all the excitement centered around him today, and saw a boy, about the same age as Dick, Artemis estimated. The boy had that naturally bleach blonde hair and was still had that lanky preteen appearance.

"Oh, hey Gabe. What is it?" Dick greeted the new arrival.

"You left this," Gabe said, smiling and handed Richard a rather large, complicated looking calculator.

Dick cocked his head to one side and said, "Um, thanks."

"No prob. See you next practice, man," Gabe patted him on the shoulder and walked away.

Artemis gave the remaining boy a quizzical look and he explained, "That's Gabriel Carter. He's in Mathletes with me. He –"

"That's great Dick, really, but you gotta hear this," she didn't mean to be rude, but this was important, even if Richard looked a little annoyed at being interrupted. She lowered her voice to a whisper and glanced around to make sure no one unwanted was around, "I have a plan to get back at Pricilla."

She was not expecting the reaction she got, which wasn't much of one.

He frowned and shut his locker, but didn't say anything.

"Well?" Artemis said, eyebrows go up, "Aren't you excited? At all?"

The boy only shrugged and began to walk down the hall, "Artemis, I appreciate it and all, but I don't really want to get back at Pricilla."

Artemis caught up to him, acting as if she was cleaning out her ears, "I'm sorry, I don't think I heard that right. We're talking about _Pricilla_ here. You know, spawn of Satan himself?"

"I didn't say I'm okay with what she did. I just would rather let the matter drop and hope everyone forgets about it, okay?" Dick had a pleading look in his eyes, that sort of puppy-dog face.

"Oh, come _on_. We'll only emotionally scar her a teeny bit," Artemis begged, running in front of the smaller boy and clasping her hands in his face.

He rolled his eyes, "Artemis, we are not going to do anything, understand?" for a thirteen year old, Richard could sound very stern, "I just want to leave this little slice of life behind me, okay?"

Artemis sighed, "Fine, we won't do anything to the little . . . brat."

Dick seemed to take some relief in that, "Good. And you know I think that her little prank actually –" He was interrupted again, this time by the tardy bell. They both jumped and practically ran their separate ways to their classes.

However, this little interruption did not distract Artemis from the fact that she did not tell Dick that _she_ wouldn't still pull a little revenge of her own.

Loopholes, gotta love 'em.

* * *

Her plan was brilliant. The best part was all she had to do now was hide in the girl's gym locker room and wait patiently, which funnily enough, had never been her strong suit, but to see this she'd endure anything.

Artemis watched from her spot in between rows of lockers as Pricilla's pack walk out one-by-one, all cheerfully waving goodbye to their alpha who was just starting to get out of the showers. That was the part that had made Artemis most nervous, if everyone would leave when they usually did.

Artemis had been observing them since the moment she decided to get revenge on Pricilla. She was a little creeped out at how easily stalking seemed to come to her, but she blamed it on stealth training.

At least now she knew that Pricilla, being fabulous as always, took extra long in the locker room after practice, and also seemed to take a lot of joy in dismissing her subjects. Last to go was always the blonde, Pricilla's right hand, apparently. As soon as she walked out Artemis knew her plan would begin.

Speak of the devil, here came a stack of curly blonde hair now, the owner calling back the way she'd come, "Kay, Prissy. See you tomorrow," And she glided out, leaving Pricilla alone the shower area.

Artemis resisted the urge to laugh evilly to herself as she walked to where she could watch her deed unfold. She had to save that till later. Was it wrong to be so excited about something so mean? Probably, but again she consoled herself with the knowledge that Pricilla totally had this coming.

It started when Pricilla picked up her hair dryer and brush; she always used both at the same time to give her hair that perfect salon look. That is until she turned the dryer on and simultaneously ran the brush through her hair. She was immediately covered in self-rising flour and her scream only got louder as she realized her hair brush was covered in honey and currently stuck in her hair.

Pricilla turned the dryer off and Artemis stepped into view for her part, turning on the strategically placed, high-powered fan as she went.

Then Artemis let out her best evil laugh (the one she'd been practicing) so it could be heard in the shower area.

Pricilla turned towards the sound and Artemis was suddenly glad looks could not, in fact kill.

"_You_," was all the brunette could seem to say and started to walk towards the one responsible for her predicament.

"Me," Artemis grinned and reached up to pull a string, praying this would work.

It did. As Pricilla walked, the bucket Artemis had filled with something a little stickier than vanilla pudding, flipped over at the pull of its string.

Again Pricilla shrieked as she was covered, head to foot, in maple syrup, watered down and mixed with something Artemis had found in the refrigerator at Mt. Justice after one Megan's cooking adventures. She had no idea what it was but it was green and smelled like rotten veggies.

As soon as the avalanche was over, Pricilla opened her mouth, either to scream or tell Artemis how dead she was, but she never got the chance.

"But wait," Artemis said cheerfully, "there's more!" And she pulled out a large bag of feathers (she'd gotten out of her pillow), opened it, and began sprinkling them in front of the high-powered fan, aimed directly at the once clean cheerleader.

At least Pricilla had the good sense to close her mouth instead of shriek again.

Artemis turned the fan off and quickly grabbed the "piece de resistance"; her camera. She snapped as many pictures of the sticky, flour and feather covered cheerleader as she could before Pricilla, screamed, "You filthy rat! Give me that camera!" and lunged for it, hairbrush only getting more tangled in her locks.

Having the superior reflexes, however, the civilian archer jumped back, holding the camera out of reach, "No, no, my fine feathered friend. I haven't even printed them out yet." She made a _tsk_ noise as the brunette backed off, suddenly seeming unsure.

"Y-you wouldn't," she said, but Artemis nodded.

"Oh, yes I would, _Prissy_," Artemis said venomously, "But not immediately. As long as we can reach a little agreement," she finished, smiling sweetly.

Now, Pricilla looked very worried.

* * *

The next day Artemis finally found Dick in the square at free period. Funnily enough, she hadn't seen much of him that day.

But there he was across the lawn, talking to a black boy she recognized from her English class as Chris (he was on the same scholarship program as she was). He was the only one who seemed to understand Shakespeare; therefore, everyone knew who he was for study tips.

As she practically skipped up to them he walked away and Dick turned to her and said, "I have the coolest thing to tell you," he was grinning.

Artemis hopped up onto the wall they usually sat on and responded, "I, too, have news of the cool persuasion."

Richard seemed to notice the mischievous glint in her eye, and asked in a wary tone he'd adopted quite a lot lately around her, "Why don't you go first, then?" He sat down next to her.

"Gladly," she chirped and pulled out her concealed camera and turning it on. When she got to the picture she wanted she held it out for Richard to see.

He snatched the camera from her and held it close to his face, mouth gaping, "Is this . . . that can't be . . . Artemis what did you do?" he asked finally in a low whisper for only her to hear.

Artemis shrugged and batted her eyes, taking the camera from him, "As far as anybody beside you, me, and Pricilla are concerned, absolutely nothing."

"What are you –" he started.

"Nobody's ever going to know about this. That is if Pricilla keeps her end of the deal," she paused when she saw the object of their private conversation gliding over them (now plucked and polished), pack in tow, just as they'd agreed, "In fact, I think she's about to."

Dick followed her line of site and looked just as confused as the whole group of girls behind Pricilla as she stopped in front of them.

Pointedly ignoring Artemis, who smiled and waved at the girls, Pricilla looked at Dick, although she didn't look happy with that alternative either, "Richard Grayson?" she said, as if she had to ask.

Thankfully, Richard wasn't stunned enough by this interaction not to be sarcastic, "You're a clever one, you are."

Artemis snorted and Pricilla huffed, but regained her composure, "I just wanted to," she paused and cleared her throat as if the words were stuck somewhere in there, then ground out, "_apologize_ for my little prank. Have a nice day," and she walked off, girl-pack surrounding her, asking a million questions at once. As she whipped past Artemis, the blonde smelled the faintest scent of honey and rotten veggies.

Artemis immediately began cackling at Dick's truly priceless expression and was already in the hiccupping stage, when Dick said, "What did you do?"

Artemis took a few composing breaths and explained, "I did this," indicating the camera and it's incriminating photo, "and told that unless she apologized to you in person, with witnesses, I'd put up one of these, for every poster she put up. And that if she ever pulled something like that again, too anyone, I'd double it."

Dick was quiet for a moment then a slow smile split his face, "You are an evil genius."

"Thanks," Artemis flipped her hair in mock vanity, "Now what was it you wanted to tell me?"

"What – Oh, right," Richard said, "Heh, funny enough it's kind of about the same thing, er, the prank on me not the prank on Pricilla. I'm not sure why, but ever since then –"

He was cut off, yet again, by a red-headed girl, like Gabe Carter, looking Dick's age, walking past and waved at them, "Hey Richard," she said and giggled when he waved back.

The red-head walked away and Dick finished his sentence, "People are talking to me."

"Um, did they not before?" Artemis asked, a little bewildered, "You said you were in the Mathletes or something, right?"

"What I mean is they don't talk to me just because they _have_ to now. It's really weird," he looked at her, "Any ideas? Cause I'm lost. They should all be making fun of me or something, and, well, some are, but still . . ."

Artemis thought for a second and said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but I think Pricilla inadvertently made you the champion of the nerdy and underprivileged."

Dick looked at her like he was about to ask if she forgot her medication, "Champion of what now?"

"I realize the craziness of it, okay?" Artemis held up a hand, "But, I mean, think about it. You're _out_ now. You're a charity case like the rest of us," she put an arm around his shoulders and swept her other hand over the square, "Not only that, but you're an overachiever! A rich, overachieving, charity-case," Artemis paused and looked at him grudgingly, "I kind of hate you, by the way."

Not acknowledging her last comment, Dick asked, "So, you're saying that Pricilla's prank backfired on her? She only made me more relatable?"

Artemis shrugged, "Best explanation I've got. That or they just feel sorry for you," she dodged his elbow going for her ribs.

"Well, it beats talking to just _you_ all day," he joked and stood as the bell rang.

"You would say that to the girl who just tarred and feathered your arch nemesis for you?"

"Hey, I'm the champion of nerds; I can say whatever I want."

Artemis rolled her eyes, "I've created a monster."

* * *

**A/N**: Not sure how much I like this (again), but it's in time for April Fools, or April Fools leftovers, whatever.

Hope you liked it though, and even if you didn't let me know, it reminds me that there's intelligent life out there.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N**: I'm a sucker for High School clichés. I just wanted to be the first to point that out before I start this chapter. Also, I wanted to try my hand a little romance and an OC (since Robin has no love interest in the show apparently, I get to have fun, bwahaha!). Just know that I'm not really that good at, you know, lovey dovey crap. This was also inspired a little by _Sadie Hawkins Dance _by Reliant K, so listen to it if you get a chance, fun song.

**Disclaimer**: . . . still no . . . nor do I know the status of Artemis' morning cheer . . .

* * *

Artemis was not a morning person.

At all.

Which was why she was already rather grouchy when she went to her locker after first-period, and found one certain frazzled looking boy waiting for her.

"Hey, Dick, what's –"

"This is _your_ fault," Dick interrupted her harshly.

Taken aback, it took Artemis a moment to respond. Finally she sputtered, "What are you –"

"I was fine until _you_ showed up. I was completely content, just being unnoticed for the rest of my High School career, but _no_. You just had to come along and muck it all up, didn't you? Well, I will have you know, that I have absolutely no interest in your devious little plan, so _you _are the one who has to reverse this. All of it. I don't care how you do it. Maybe build a time machine, just _fix it_!"

By the time Richard finished his little rant his eye was twitching, Artemis was half-way hiding behind her locker door, and a few kids walking by were giving them strange looks.

When Artemis was sure Dick wouldn't explode on her again she glanced around and said, "You finished?"

Dick relaxed a bit where he stood, "Yeah, I'm better."

"Good, now what happened?" Artemis pulled a book from her locker and picked up her backpack.

Dick sighed heavily and grumbled, "Abigail Shelby happened."

Artemis thought for a moment, "That girl in your art class who tried to investigate what's really in the cafeteria meatloaf and somehow ended up starting a food fight with the lunch ladies?"

That was a fun day. Abigail (and a few other kids who joined in the fight) almost got suspended, but the lunch ladies told the principle there was no harm done as long as she helped clean up (one worker said it was the most fun she'd had at this school since the sporks incident of '89).

"One and the same," Dick mumbled.

"Well?" Artemis said impatiently, "What'd she do?"

Dick didn't answer immediately, which really grated Artemis' early morning nerves.

Finally, Dick said very quietly, "She asked me to the dance."

Suddenly, Artemis wasn't in such a bad mood, "_Aaawww_ –"

"Do not _aw_, this is _not_ an _aw_ moment! This is a moment for building time machines!" Dick sputtered.

Artemis snorted, "Alright, calm down you little freak," then she gave into temptation of gossip and said, "Tell me exactly what happened, _right now._"

Richard rolled his eyes, "You're such a girl."

"Watch it Grayson."

"Fine," Dick thought for a moment, "I don't know. She just ambushed me in art class just now. She asked if I needed help with my pottery wheel. Then she says 'Hey you know that Sadie Hawkins dance coming up? We should go together'." He paused while Artemis rolled her eyes at his 'girl voice'.

"And what did you say," She asked when he shifted awkwardly.

"Nothing. The bell rang right at that moment and when she looked away to get her stuff I ran for my life," when he finished he banged his head on the locker and Artemis laughed.

"You're such a boy."

Dick turned his head slightly and glared at her.

Artemis ignored it and turned back to rifling through her locker, "Well, you can't leave her hanging forever. Maybe I can –"

"You're Artemis, right?"

The new voice startled Artemis and she jumped and turned towards it.

Standing in front of her was a tiny little girl, with a ton of tangled red hair, pretty hazel eyes, and freckles sprinkled over her nose. Her school uniform had paint splatters here and there and it looked like she'd taken a Sharpie to one of her arms and drawn a collage of indecipherable shapes and doodles. She was Dick's age, as far as Artemis knew, and was another of those overachieving, grade-skipping high-schoolers (apparently, Bruce Wayne was big on scholarships. Maybe it was a good tax write-off or something).

"Uh, yeah," Artemis responded ever so gracefully, "And you're Abigail."

Abigail nodded and ran a hand (or tried to) through her hair, "I prefer Abby. But I was wondering if you'd seen Richard," she shifted shyly, "I have to ask him something."

Artemis raised an eyebrow and turned to her other side, where Dick had just been . . .

"Okay, he was right there a second ago, I swear," Artemis said turning back to the girl.

"Hmm," Abby hummed absently, "He did the same thing in art class," she looked at Artemis and smirked, "I think I scared him."

The archer shrugged, "Boys are weird like that," she slammed her locker and suddenly felt hands around her arm. She turned again and found Abby _that close_ to her so Artemis had to lean back a little.

"But he's not around _you_," Abby said excitedly.

Artemis could already see where this was going, "Oh, n – "

"You could ask him for me!"

Artemis sighed, was about to kindly say no, and then made the mistake of looking at Abby directly. She was obviously an expert at the puppy-dog face. That, combined with the messy red hair and freckles, Artemis' resolve melted. _Dang it_.

She was a sucker for freckly red-heads. Well, not _all_ . . . never mind.

Artemis tried to pry her arm out of Abby's grasp, "Look, I'll, uh, see what I can do, okay? But no promises."

Just then the bell rang and before Artemis could escape to her next class Abby had her in an awkward hug, "Thanks you're the best!"

" . . . Yeah . . . I gotta go to class . . . now . . ." Artemis said, again prying herself away from the younger girl.

"Oh, right," Abby said cheerfully and backed off, picked up her things, paused to hug Artemis one more time then ran to her next class.

Artemis could only stare for a moment. Finally, she turned and walked to her next class wondering how she managed to get in the middle of this.

And how she was going to convince Dick to _speak_ to Abby much less go to a dance with her.

* * *

"You're going," Artemis said firmly.

It was free period and Artemis had practically had to fly tackle Dick to talk to him. She dragged him to their usual wall so they could sit and talk . . . and so she could pin him if she had to.

"No, I'm not," Richard said, arms crossed.

Artemis sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Alright, listen you little brat, I am not getting stuck in the middle of some tween drama, I simply _will not_. You're going to that stupid dance whether I have to drag you kicking and screaming, understand?"

She expected him to protest further, but was surprised when Dick's face brightened and he said, "Wait, you're going too?"

"Uh . . ." Honestly, she wasn't going to. Artemis wasn't exactly the school dance type. She'd gone to some at her old school, but she usually had a male-interest or a group of girl friends to go with then. She didn't really have any boy in particular she'd wanted to ask to this Sadie Hawkins, so she figured she would just sit this one out, "No, actually, not this time."

Dick's face changed from excited to desperate, "But you _have_ to. Then I can go with Abby and you can be there and make sure I don't do or say anything stupid."

Artemis raised an eyebrow at him, "Ever heard the expression 'three's a crowd'?"

Dick rolled his eyes, "Ever heard of a 'double date'?"

She glared at him, "You're missing one other boy in that equation, Mathlete. And in case you haven't noticed the dance is Friday, and all the good guys are taken," she swept her hand over the square.

"There's Nathan Reed," Dick said quickly. A little _too_ quickly, in Artemis' opinion.

"Who?" Artemis said skeptically, eyeing the smaller boy suspiciously.

Dick smiled innocently, the little sneak, "He's on the track team, I think you'd like him," he paused to giggle at what seemed to be some untold joke, and Artemis got the now normal feeling that she was missing something, "And he, um, kinda asked me about you," the last part sounded more like a question.

Artemis narrowed her eyes, "Dick, I have a strict policy about dating guys I've never met before. Put simply: _I don't_." She was about to tell him he was on his own with this one, when she, yet again, made the mistake of looking directly into those big blue eyes.

"_Please_, Artemis? I don't know the first thing about dating . . . Well, I do, but I don't think Bruce's method would work with Abby . . . Come on Artemis, just this once, please?" He looked up at her with such a pathetically pleading expression, that she melted in the slightest.

She huffed and slouched back against the wall, "Alright tell me about this Reed kid," Dick's expression changed and she said quickly, "I didn't say I'd go."

He smiled at her anyway and shrugged, "Nathan's nice, and he's on an athletic scholarship –"

"Again with the scholarships?" Artemis interrupted. Dick gave her a look.

"Anyway," he continued, "He can be a little loud and obnoxious, but in a friendly way. You'd like him," he repeated, in that odd, cryptic way he had.

Artemis sighed and looked hard at Dick. He was still staring at her with a pleading, hopeful expression.

Finally she said, "You _really _like Abby?"

He shrugged and a corner of his mouth lifted, "Only one way to find out."

Artemis looked away and thought for second. Then grudgingly she said, "_Fine_, I'll go with you, but only because you're pathetic, and Abby's too spazzy to disappoint," Dick smiled so big she thought his face would split, "And this Nathan better be one heck of a date."

"Don't worry I'll handle everything," Dick said as the bell rang, announcing the end of free period, "Except one thing," he finished with a smirk.

Artemis growled, "_What more do you want from me?_"

Dick laughed, "You have to ask Nathan to the dance."

"What!"

"It's a girl's choice dance Artemis. If we're going to do this we got to do it properly."

She could have smacked him, but she had to keep up good behavior for her scholarship and teachers were nearby, "_Fine._"

* * *

If Dick wanted her to do things "properly" then she was going to do it her way.

That and she didn't really feel like being polite when she walked up to Nathan Reed after school. He was standing alone and she figured it was as good a time as any.

When she saw him she realized she may have seen his picture featured in the school paper. Light brown hair, dark brown eyes, long and lanky like a runner.

She stopped next to him, "Hey."

He turned and started a little when he saw who it was, "Oh, hey Artemis –"

"So I heard you wanted to go to the dance," She said bluntly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, but I was waiting for –" He tried again, but Artemis hurried on.

"Do you want to go with me?"

"Really? I mean, that'd be great, I was kinda hope –"

"Fantastic, pick me up at seven," she handed him a piece of torn notebook paper with her number on it and started to walk away.

"Um, okay," Nathan said slowly, and watched her walk to her bus.

* * *

**A/N:** Artemis is grouchy in this one . . . . This will be a two chapter.

I got lazy half-way through so . . . sorry. I had to write this chapter in order to get to the next one, which is the one I originally had the idea for, ergo mounds of writers block in this chap. Forgive _two_ OCs, I tried to work it so she had to ask Kid Flash . . . but I'm trying to stay with the show here and Artemis wouldn't ask Wally out to save her own life in this stage of the relationship:P.

There also may be an illustration for Abby soon on my devientart page (haha). Also, I don't want anyone to think I'm being pushy or anything but . . . go to my deviantart page, now, right now, link's on my profile, go, look, leave comments, _right now,_ there's only two things it'll take no time . . .

Ahem . . . but, yeah, that'd be great thanks :D. Anyway, hope you liked it, please review (constructive criticism is joyfully accepted), and sorry for the incredibly long A/Ns.


End file.
